


The Rice Thief Conundrum

by Hydranoid413



Series: Bakugan sequel fics (Alice-centric) [2]
Category: Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Lesbian Character, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Post-Canon, Unofficial Sequel, What Was I Thinking?, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27293839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hydranoid413/pseuds/Hydranoid413
Summary: Why would Fabia need to steal rice?Revealing she was Masquerade may have exposed Lerna, but it's had other consequences that aren't so good. With a rice thief with Bakugan she's never seen who looks just like Fabia, it looks like there's a mystery to solve!
Relationships: Alice Gehabich/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Bakugan sequel fics (Alice-centric) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992802





	The Rice Thief Conundrum

Within a dark reverse dimension, a dark lord seated himself on a dark throne, with his dark dragon watching from behind. After being mutated and imprisoned here by Code Eve, Mag Mel had spent his time using the energies of the dimension to create a quartet of minions.

The first was a copy of his own species, a Gundalian. The second, a fake Neathian, the third, a duplicate Vestal. The fourth ended up a human clone, which he dismissed as useless.

He set them to work straight away. The first two, he created Bakugan for, and sent them to Bakugan Interspace to create teams and become high-ranked brawlers. The Vestal, he decided would be his engineer, and set him to work to create a device that would let him conquer other universes in the future.

The human had no use to him. She would be the test subject for the Vestal’s device.

After the device was completed, the Vestal used it on her. A beam of energy struck her, and she vanished.

“Now bring her back, servant. I want to know the device works both ways.” ordered Mag Mel.

With a burst of light she returned, with a pair of Bakugan. Neither Mag Mel nor the Vestal questioned this.

“The device works. Now dispose of her; she is of no use to me now.”

The Vestal turned to her. She didn’t need to die. If he sent her elsewhere, she would survive and he could claim he’d transported her corpse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Soldiers had been bugging her for days. They loved the golubtsy she made, and the cabbage was easy to find, but they would only eat it if the filling was a specific mix of ingredients that were rare, at least here in Japan. She suspected they loved it like that specifically just to mess with her.

Alice hoped the next konbini would have them. She’d been out for hours, searching.

It didn’t help that after revealing herself to be Masquerade people had started avoiding her, or even harassing her on the street. Even if she hadn’t been in control of her body when Masquerade had sent their Bakugan to the Doom Dimension, they didn’t know that, so all the abuse was slung at her.

As she got to the doorway, Fabia ran out clutching several bags of rice, looking behind her. The two girls collided, and Alice was stunned while Fabia took the opportunity to run away.

“Fabia?!” she called out.

“Dunno who that is, hun!” the girl who was apparently not Fabia responded as she sprinted off into the distance, missing a bag or two of rice.

“Strange… She’s the queen of Neathia now, she wouldn’t need to steal…” questioned Alice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“She wants to battle me?!” Alice stared, bewildered at the message she’d received.

Hydranoid rolled over and opened. “I hope she’s strong. I haven’t had a good proper battle since I evolved.”

She patted the small, spherical hydra. “You’ll get one soon, I’m sure. And it won’t just be good, it’ll be the best you’ve ever had!”

“So, when’s the golubtsy gonna be ready?” asked one of the Soldiers.

“I haven’t been able to find any paprika, so since you guys are so picky you’ll have to wait.” She was answered with a round of booing from the Soldiers.

“I’ll be out with Hydranoid, don’t burn the house down. Olifus, that means you!”Alice said as she walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bakugan brawl! Hydranoid, stand!” “Bakugan brawl! Sabra, stand!”

“Maximus Hydranoid at: 1000 Gs. Sabra at: 600 Gs” Alice could hear.

So the Fabia lookalike’s Bakugan was much weaker than Hydranoid, even if she’d never seen it before. Unless she had some tricks up her sleeve, Hydranoid’d curb stomp this “Sabra”.

“Shadow Hue!” Alice played her first Ability card. A thick cloud of dark smoke came out of Hydranoid’s wings.

Her opponent responded with “Nova Burst!”, Sabra firing out a burst of energy from each head before copying her ability.

“Shadow Drain!” This card drained away 200 Gs into Hydranoid.

‘Bakugan brawl! Pyravian, stand!” A golden phoenix rose from the Gate Card. “Phoenix Fire!” Pyravian started spinning before colliding with Hydranoid. “Consecutive ability, activate! Elemental Storm!”

Sabra started summoning a storm in the sky above, then the ground around caught on fire.

“That’s not good. Hydranoid! Pact of Darkness!” An energy shield with the Darkus symbol appeared in front of him, protecting the hydra from the worst of the storm, but the winds still swept him away.

So she was stronger than Alice thought. That changed things.

“Gate Card, set!” She’d decided to play Silent Land.

“Bakugan brawl! Hydranoid, stand!” “Bakugan brawl! Sabra, stand!”

The Fabia lookalike had gone with Sabra again. Interesting.

“Darkus Blast!” Hydranoid’s Gs more than doubled, firing smoke out the front of his wings. It was excessive, but she really wanted to win this for some reason.

“Liqui Darts! Consecutive ability, activate! Aquoslash! Triple ability, activate! Solitude!” With the three abilities in a row, Sabra’s G-power jumped up even further than Hydranoid’s.

“Gate Card, open!” With Silent Land, her opponent wouldn’t be able to play any more abilities, but she still needed to get higher.

“Second Strike!” This sent Hydranoid back to her hand (but keeping the G-power boost he already had), then let her throw him back in with even higher Gs.

“Hydranoid, stand!” She managed to stand him in mid air, hitting into Sabra and knocking him out.

The opposing girl threw down her Gate Card for the next round.

“Bakugan brawl! Hydranoid, stand!” “Bakugan brawl! Sabra, stand!”

“Smoke Armour!” Alice immediately went on the defensive. ‘Consecutive ability, activate! Stoneskin!” Hydranoid covered himself in smoke, before it turned to stone and shattered.

Alice stared at the girl’s eyes. She looked like Fabia, but wasn’t, and there was something else familiar about her…

“Dripping Poison!” A nasty looking green liquid came out of Sabra, which he flung at Hydranoid, boosting his Gs and cancelling Stoneskin.

“Gate Card, open!” Phantasm was revealed, knocking Hydranoid’s Gs down further and not letting him move. “Aquofreeze Beam!”

With a blast of ice, Hydranoid was out of the game, and Alice was out of life points.

Alice was a bit worn out. She’d really been getting into it. “Good ga-game!” she said, trying to catch her breath.

After the match, she could still feel her heart pounding. “Alice? Are you okay? I can still hear your heart, maybe you should get that checked out.”

“I’ll be fine, Hydranoid, just need to rest a bit. And I think, now, I finally have someone I can call a rival! I should try and find out who she is…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next week they were battling again. After their first battle Fabia’s lookalike had become relatively popular, although still low ranked because she was new, so their rematch had had to wait until now.

Alice was in way over her head.

She’d used both her Bakugan, and then somehow fused them together. She’d heard of this happening in the past, but this was the first she’d seen of it.

“Darkus Blast!” Hydranoid was just barely keeping up with his opponent’s Gs, even with his most powerful Abilities.

The Fabia lookalike reached down, before grabbing a large, flat hexagon, glowing blue and yellow with a symbol Alice didn’t recognise on it. She threw it at her Bakugan, and a crown appeared on its head. The fusion’s Gs jumped up further.

She might be able to win this if… yes, that could work.

“Might of Darkness! Consecutive ability, activate! Vice Cutter!”

Hydranoid regained some of his strength, and charged, knocking off the crown. He bit down on one of the fusion’s necks, for just a second, before it reverted into first the pair of Bakugan it was made from, and then those two into their ball forms.

She’d just barely won!

“Well, I guess you’re stronger than I thought, hun! Good match, and I hope to battle you again!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the human Mag Mel had created had been sent to another dimension, she had gone to a version of Earth. It was one much different to the Earth that Alice and the other Brawlers were from, although it still had Bakugan.

They had a very different way of battling, though. There were no cards used, some of the Attributes were different, and you used hexagons on the ground to power up your Bakugan!

There she met a pair of Bakugan. An Aquos Sabra, and an Aurelus Pyravian, in the middle of a battle. She convinced both to stop fighting, and to instead help her steal some rice. The two, riding on her shoulder in ball form, were about to tell her they didn’t know what that was when all three were drawn back to Mag Mel’s prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”So, waddya think of my Bakugan, Alice? Betcha never seen anything like ‘em!”

“I’m trying to strategise, please go away.” Alice didn’t let her know that another reason she needed to go away was because she was making Alice’s heart pound again.

“just tell me whatcha think of ‘em, and I’ll lea-“ she was interrupted by an inconvenient explosion.

Both Alice and the Fabia lookalike were knocked over by the blast, which was much too close for comfort. There was ash everywhere, and Alice could smell burnt hair.

“Whaa?… You. You did that! You had me here so I’d be in range and you could blow me up!” Alice got on top of the other girl and punched her hard in the face.

Then a second time.

And a third.

Sabra and Pyravian managed to pull her off. “Why would she so it? She has no motive and she was caught in the blast too!”

“You… You’re right. I shouldn’t have attacked you. We should team up to find out who really did it!” Alice apologised.

“My face is hurting like I smashed into a brick wall now, so I’ll do it only if you buy me rice. And lots of it. I’m not addicted, I swear.”

“It’s a deal… I guess. And no one mentioned anything about you being addicted to rice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…so we’ll need a list of everyone in the building at the time, and…” Alice was talking to the stadium receptionist to get some evidence.

“I’ll have to confirm your ID first, but I can give that to you.”

“Thanks, ma’am, we’ll get to the bottom of this!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay everyone, we need you to line up!” the Fabia lookalike was a bit too enthusiastic about this.

“Hmmm… I don’t think I’ve seen any of these people before, although that kid over there does look kinda familiar… I don’t think any of them have a motive to do it either.” Alice inspected the lineup.

“Excuse me ma’am, why are you doing this?” asked a young girl.

“Because…” the Fabia lookalike drew it out a bit too long “… someone tried to blow us up!” Many gasps could be heard around the room.

A boy suddenly stood forward. “You sent my brother’s Bakugan to the Doom Dimension!” he shouted, before leaping at Alice and punching her in the face.

She fell over, clutching her cheek, while Fabia’s lookalike restrained him.

Alice stood back up. “Masquerade may have used my body to do that, but he isn’t me. I didn’t know he was part of me, and when I found out I was horrified.”

She continued. “To sort this out, I’ll battle you. Just me and you, one versus one. If I win, I want you to stop trying to kill me for being Masquerade. If you win, I’ll…” she hesitated “I’ll destroy Masquerade’s mask, so he can never come back!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy that wanted to kill her threw his Pyrus Hakapoid onto the Gate Card. She, of course, sent out Hydranoid.

Although she wasn’t participating in the brawl, the Fabia lookalike was standing right next to Alice. Maybe a bit _too_ close…

“I haven’t told you my name yet, have I hun? I’ll tell you if you win…” she whispered into Alice’s ear.

Alice’s face went red and her heart started pounding again. There might have even been a bit of steam.

“Darkus Blast!” The smoke gave Hydranoid a massive G-power boost, which let him one-shot the Hakapoid. He’d defeated him by (much) more than 500 Gs, so Hakapoid went to Alice instead of the kid.

She threw it back to him. “Keep your partner. I’m not Masquerade; I don’t steal people’s Bakugan.” Except for Hades, she thought, but Lerna had been an enemy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You won!” announced the Fabia lookalike excitedly. “Now ya get to know my name!”

She whispered again. “My name’s Inada. Means ‘rice field’. Pretty appropriate for someone who loves rice as much as me!”

Inada followed this up with a kiss on the cheek, then a bombshell. “Since I’m telling you my name and all right now, I may as well tell you that Mag Mel created me.”

Alice kissed her back, then realised what her new girlfriend had said. “Wait, what?!”

**Author's Note:**

> The other dimension Inada was sent to was a version of the Battle Planet universe, but not the main one
> 
> The kid that wants to kill Masquerade is one of the people mentioned to be verbally abusing Alice for being Masquerade, and the kid that seemed a bit familiar to her
> 
> Just like Lerna looked identical to Masquerade except for the pointy Vestal ears, Inada is the same as Fabia's human disguise-hologram-whatever it is (seriously, they never explained that)


End file.
